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In Borges absence, the other resident fool has rushed in, Felger writes a "damning" article about the Patriots.. it is all about the ratings baby, come and listen to my show this afternoon and we will continue this discussion. I guess in Callahan's silence, he and John Dennis will have to carry the torch. While most of us have some concerns about this move, the benefits are obvious, to panic in late april is pretty stupid.. lets see what they write next February.

Can we all now cut through the sanctimonious garbage weâve been fed for years about the type of players brought into Gillette Stadium? In 1998, when Moss entered the NFL draft, owner Robert Kraft and then-personnel director Bobby Grier took Moss off the Patsâ board due to character concerns. Moss then spent the next nine seasons fulfilling every negative prophecy laid out for him.

He became exactly what Kraft and Grier feared. And yesterday he was handed a Patriots uniform.

So what changed?

It surely wasnât Moss, who was at his selfish, loafing worst last year in Oakland (career-low 42 catches). Forget the spin laid out by coach Bill Belichick, who said he was drawn to Mossâ âprofessionalismâ and âcompetitiveness.â No one knows if Moss truly has turned the corner on a career that has seen him squirt water on a referee, taken a female traffic cop for a ride on the hood of his car, and most importantly, quit on almost every team heâs played on.

You know with 90% of us now being able to predict what Felger will write, before he writes it, why does anyone bother with him anymore? We have gone over this 100x in the last 24 hours, he couldn't come up with any original angle? Oh wait it's the new slick Felger, no he couldn't.

John Dennis is on a Randy Moss character issue rant right now...he is giving me a headache.

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Exactly. Dennis, CHB, Felger and, presumably, Borges all want Moss to never put on a helmet and pads again. Miserable catholics, all of them. They have this pressing need to try and make individuals suffer for their transgressions over the course of a LIFETIME. It's disgusting.

Look, cancers can drag a team down. Look at Cinncy last year. Look at any team Terrell Owens is on.

In the same article that he implies the Patriots are acquiring that type of player, he has them winning the Super Bowl.

Friggin' Moron!

The Patriots do their homework before acquiring malcontents (Dillon), loud mouths (Cox), and the chronically unhappy (T. Washington).

Number one, this isn't new, but of course Felger has always had trouble knowing the very team he is covering.

Secondly, if your trying to imply the team did the wrong thing, then don't have them winning the Super Bowl. Because if another Super Bowl Championship is the result of these moves, the cleary THEY DIDN'T DO THE WRONG THING!

God, why does this town now have the Felgers, Shaunessys, and Borges of the world? It use to be the best sports media town, and now it has these negative idiots, that don't know what they're talking about.

once the season starts felger is going to rile up moss for the sake of publicity like he did with dillon last yr. Even if players want to go their own way, these writers will ensure that their past is raked up and try and piss them off more.

Listening to John Dennis is maddening this morning, same thing over and over and over and over again.. have not heard anyone agree with him yet, it is freaking 4th round pick.. high potential, and if it does not work out sayanorra.. he can play for vet minimums the rest of his career.

What people like Felger need to realize is that this is not out of character for Belichick at all. Look at the aquisition of Cox, Harrison, and Dillon (which by the way, he had a similar reaction too.

Clearly Felger didn't read An Education of A Coach. If he did he would realize that this move pretty much fits right in line with Belichick's beliefs.

DAVID HALBERSTAM AND THE NFL DRAFT by Michael David Smith

[Editor's note: We were so pleased with the initial work of Michael David Smith, who pinch-hit for the Poobah on Monday, that we're going to invite him from time to time to submit an item on days when he isn't technically filling in for the boss when the boss is otherwise taking care of his day job.]

We noted earlier that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam died yesterday, killed in a car crash on his way to interview Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle for his next book. But with the NFL draft upon us, there's a lesson from a previous football book by Halberstam that's worth addressing.

On page 193 of The Education of a Coach, Halberstam's book about Bill Belichick, Halberstam mentions The Lawrence Taylor Lesson.

The lesson was simple: Character and talent count, and you have to consider both of them when evaluating a player. Halberstam recounted how Belichick learned both as an assistant coach with the Giants and as head coach of the Browns that you have to hold your players to high standards, and that you can't let a trusted veteran get away with behavior you wouldn't tolerate from an undrafted rookie.

But there is an exception if you have a truly gifted player like Lawrence Taylor. When Belichick was the Giants' defensive coordinator, he didn't always like what he perceived to be Bill Parcells letting Taylor get away with too much. But Belichick understood why Parcells thought Taylor was too good on Sunday to bench him for showing up late to a meeting on Wednesday.

In The Education of a Coach, Halberstam writes, "What Belichick decided after he left Cleveland was that if he ever got another head coaching job, there would be one set of rules for everyone, that he would go for players who had both talent and character, and if there was a great player like Taylor, a unique player who created a unique problem, he would deal with it sooner, rather than later."

And that's a lesson a lot of NFL teams will wrestle with in their war rooms on Saturday. If the most talented player on the board is great on Sundays but a turd the rest of the week, more often than not a General Manager will decide to pass, especially in light of the recent suspensions of Pacman and Pukeman. Unless the G.M. thinks that player is such a unique athlete that he's worth the headaches.

But any General Manager thinking about taking a guy like that ought to remember that there's only one Lawrence Taylor.

Bottom line question: Have Moss and Meriweather brought the Pats one step closer to the Super Bowl? Unequivocally. And if you arenât looking forward to watching Brady throw the ball up to Moss in the end zone, you donât have a pulse. For those of us whoâve been calling for the Pats to be more aggressive and add more front-line talent, itâs a little hypocritical to be complaining now. We asked for it. So hold your nose if you don't like the smell.

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Or better yet, ducktape your hypocritical mouth shut.

I have no problem with people who have a problem with this acquisition. It's not something I would have done even under the no brainer terms BB was able to extract from Oakland and Randy.

But these circular arguments Felger keeps instigating between himself and his readers are nothing more than a feeble attempt to light up his phone lines at a time when the desperate housewives from Yawkey Way likely have EEI wiping the floor with him ratings wise.

This article is just a rehash of his angst riddled appearance on Sports Final last night. Called the deal a no brainer, said Randy could not cause a problem in this locker room, shared the logical explanation he got from a team official as to what has changed in 9 years to make acquiring this player possible - an unselfish core of veteran SB leaders under a firmly in control HC. So that left him with no card to play other than his but doesn't it just make you feel a little dirty fanbase?

Maybe Felgie, but we'll live. If you and your mediot buddies just let us.

Unfortunately he will now attempt to dog this player and poke sticks at him as he did Corey to see if he can't expose his worst side. And the hypocrite will all the while tell us he is doing that objectively on our behalf because we deserve to know if Randy can't be goaded into being a problem. I'm not concerned about this team handling Randy Moss. I am mildly concerned however about the Boston sports mediots handling Randy Moss.

Oh, and to answer "what's changed" since 1998 ? In case Felger hasn't noticed . . . everything. I doubt Belichick would have traded for him in 2000. But now we have Brady, Harrison, Seymour, etc, the veteran leadership that Belichick trusts to keep him in line. If this were a young, easily influenced lockeroom, I don't think this trade happens. But it's a veteran laden lockeroom and it shouldn't be an issue.

Hey I love the Pats and hope they go 16-0 and then win a S.B. but I don't like Randy Moss. I think he is a selfish player who is also immature. He is one of the most talented players in the league but I simply donât like him. I hope he matures with the Pats and can do what Dillon did for them in his first year but I have no issue with reporters who report his checkered history and I wonât root for Moss even if he sets a new NFL record while wearing a Pats uniform. Give me a Troy Brown type any day of the weak over Randy Moss. If my choice is to have Randy catch 100 balls this year or Wes Welker, I would rather have Welker catch the 100.

Exactly. Dennis, CHB, Felger and, presumably, Borges all want Moss to never put on a helmet and pads again. Miserable catholics, all of them. They have this pressing need to try and make individuals suffer for their transgressions over the course of a LIFETIME. It's disgusting.

At least Dickerson has his head screwed on straight, for once.

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So I guess Dickerson isn't Catholic? What is the right religion to be if you want to talk football?